


Brain Child

by gollymissmolly



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Skin Game Spoilers, cold days spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-18 22:10:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2363858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gollymissmolly/pseuds/gollymissmolly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Molly helps delivers Harry and Lash's brain baby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brain Child

**Author's Note:**

> This story comes from an RP with tumblr user acrusadeagainststupid (acrusadeagainststupid.tumblr.com). I was going to reformat it into a straight story, but it lost a good deal of its cohesion when I started chopping things up so this is the format we're stuck with (until I stop being lazy and actually write in transitions). Normally I wouldn't publically post something this sloppily formatted but I liked how this came out too much not to share.

**[golly-missmolly]:**  “Harry?!” She shouted, rushing out of her apartment, still in her bare feet. The Sveltarves didn’t allow _anyone_ in without an escort— even the Winter Knight, but thankfully Mab had given her a few minutes warning to try to get outside before there were problems. Apparently she’d arranged for Harry’s transportation too, which- from the looks of him- was good because he didn’t seem to be staying on his feet too well.

The moment he was out of the car, Molly grabbed his wrist and hauled his arm over her shoulders. He still had to lean down to put any weight on her at all, but she couldn’t exactly _be_ taller… though, if she’d taken a moment to think about it, she probably could have simply carried him inside if she relied on the strength of her Mantle.

"Oh my God, Harry. You look …" She tightened her jaw and didn’t finish the sentence, propping the door to her apartment open with one foot to try to get him inside and at least to the couch. "Hey, let’s get you inside, Boss. Hang on."

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  All he could see was white.

He’d never been blind before, at least as far as he could remember. He wondered if this was what it felt like — because he couldn’t even make out any shadows, there was so much pain deep in his skull. So much so he’d thrown up three or four times along the way to her apartment… he’d lost count, really. His eyesight had gone before the second time. Instead of a dull throbbing in his head, it was a sharp, stabbing sensation, like someone was trying to scoop out his brain with a freaking ice pick.

He didn’t know where he was — didn’t know who was under his arm, but he was grateful for the support anyway. He tried to say so but his mouth wouldn’t really even move, or at least when it did all that came out were high pitched cries of pain. Oops.

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  He looked like shit, to be sure, but worse than that were his screams. Molly had seen and heard him endure pain before, shout and even cry out on occasion, but nothing like this.

She couldn’t reach the door to close it behind them, but managed to lift her fingers off his forearm and flicked them back at the door with a murmured word, and the door slammed shut- and locked- behind them. If there was anyone still after Harry, they would have to wait outside just like all the other bad things in the world.

"Easy, Boss." Molly tried to tell him, but she could barely even hear herself speak over his cries. All the same, she leaned down, the crouched, carefully guiding him to lay down on the couch.

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  The cushions were so soft… offering a really strange contrast to the constant pain behind his eyes, making him almost comfortable despite the fact he wanted to die. Maybe being this comfortable would make dying easier… right? Hell, maybe that’s what was happening. Maybe he was just dying.

No… no, wait… that wasn’t right… oh _crap_ , oh _crap_ , oh _crap_ , was he… he had to be, it was the only explanation.

Both hands were lifted, gripping his skull, his fingers curled towards his head, and his nails started to scrabble against his temples, against his scalp, trying to tear at the flesh to pull it open but failing to do much more than leave slightly agitated marks on his skin.

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   ”Harry, no!” She said, not quite shouting and dropped to her knees beside him, grabbing his hands and pulling them away from his face before he actually started to do real damage to his skin or his eyes. Molly wasn’t sure she could actually restrain him, even if they went Mantle to Mantle. He’d had his for nearly a year longer than he, and his power had always been in brute force. If he started to fight, he would overpower her easily, and then she couldn’t get into his head to help.

The last thing she wanted was to tear a hole in his brain from the opposite direction by going into his mind without his permission, but if he couldn’t understand where he was or who he was with, she might not have any other choice.

"Harry— Harry! It’s Molly. Harry, I need you to give me permission to go into your mind, okay? Listen to me, Boss. Listen to my voice, okay? I need you to put your guards down and let me in, and I’ll make it better… I _promise_. Just… just nod if you understand, okay?"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  That was… who was that? His brow creased slightly, head turning a little towards the sound of her voice — it was a she, that much he could tell — and the spikes behind his eyes dulled just a little, enough so he didn’t have to scream, anyway. His mouth fell open, his chest rising and falling with slow, shallow breaths, and his hands shifted to try to grab hers, reaching out blindingly and clutching onto her firmly before somehow finding her fingers. They were… familiar hands.

His tongue ran lightly over his lower lip, and even though he couldn’t understand what she was saying right away, his brain was beginning to process the sounds she was making and… _Molly_. His eyes fell closed, relief flooding his body, and he just nodded, even if he wasn’t all that sure what she had said.

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   Okay. Okay, that was a good sign, at least he was letting her in, even if he wasn’t fully capable of acting on his own. Her breath caught in her throat when he grabbed her hands, and she gave his a comforting squeeze, but only a brief one. “I’m going to need those.” She apologzed, and instead guided his hands to her upper arms so he could still keep a hold of her, and she could free up her hands to work.

"Okay, hang on, Boss." She repeated, and moved her hands up to touch his head, her fingers cool against his temple. "Just… just try to relax okay? I’m not going to hurt you."

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  His tongue darted over his lower lip again, and he still couldn’t really tell what she was saying, but he latched onto her words anyway, latched onto her voice. Knowing it was Molly made all the difference in the world. He wasn’t exactly pleased that she moved his hands, but he was glad at least he could still clutch onto her, strong fingers digging into her muscles, holding her firmly. Maybe it was dumb to do that, but he wasn’t really thinking clearly.

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   She would have liked to have had time to set up a ritual. All the lights in the apartment were already flickering and she was certain by the time they were done they’d be fried. She didn’t have time to light any candles, or set up a circle, or shower off the other energies that clung to her from the previous day, all of which were only going to make this stunt that much more complicated, and _dangerous,_ but there simply wasn’t time.

Closing her eyes, she sent her Will out towards him, searching for the easiest entry point into his mind. From this vantage point it was easy to feel the strain he was under, as if his mind was a balloon filled too full, the container ready to burst at any moment and she was afraid that if she forced her way in from the outside, it may blow completely. Molly wasn’t even _entirely_ sure what that would mean, but it definitely wouldn’t be _good_.

Thankfully, she managed to find a weak point in his defenses— possibly left open for her, or maybe pushed open from the inside, and slipped inside.

She’d been in Harry’s mind before— and he in hers since then— but it was still a shock to suddenly be /standing/ in the place that another person’s being lived in. Oh, she knew she wasn’t actually standing— she didn’t have a body, here— but she had the appearance of one, the symbol of one, and that was good enough.

"Hey, anyone here? Harry? Id!Harry? Anyone home?…"

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  ”Here.” Id!Harry appeared out of the darkness, wearing… scrubs. Dark black scrubs, with matching hair cap and mask, but scrubs nonetheless. He was standing over a sink and washing off his hands in a sink, soap dripping down his arms, a look of concern crossing his features as his gaze lifted to spot Molly. Lips forming a thin line, he shook his head with a snort. “What the hell took you so long?”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   Okay. This was officially weird. She probably wouldn’t have been surprised to find some form of Harry actually _in labor_ \- but this was still weird. At least it was a start though.

"I was trying to get the other you not to tear his— or _my_ — eyes out while I’m in here. Mab said there’s… there’s a parasite in here?" Molly blinked a second and frowned at Id!Harry’s medical attire, "H— how bad is it?"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  Letting out a sigh and shooting her a skeptical look over his shoulder, his brow arched a little before he started to dry his hands. “Molly — c’mon. You should know better by now, don’t trust everything Mab tells you. She tells the truth — but sometimes it’s just _shades_ of the truth.” He motioned for her to follow and stepped into another shadow… and a big X-Ray appeared out of nowhere. On it was a picture of Harry’s head — and inside was what appeared to be a baby-sized skeleton. “Don’t you think she’d consider a child a parasite?:

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   ”Uh—” Molly had her own thoughts on Mab… and not all of them were as violent or as terrible as they probably _should_ have been, but none of that was the focus of her attention when Harry showed her the X-Ray of the… brain… skeleton… fetus… thing.

To be fair, it certainly _looked_ like a parasite.

"How did that get here?!"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  id!Harry flipped her a coin and winked, clicking his tongue against his teeth in the same moment, then turned on his heel to head deeper into the shadows as he did so, letting out a little hum. “Did Harry ever tell you about Lasciel?”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  She very nearly reached up to catch it. It was an instinct to grab something out of the air when it flew towards you— but her parents had been very cautious in teaching their children never to snatch _coins_ up if they didn’t know exactly where they’d come from, and when the name of one of the Fallen came up, she took a step back and let the coin clatter to the floor. Crouching to look down at it, it certainly _looked_ like one of the Coins- as far as she could tell, anyway, but in his brain it was only a symbol. It wasn’t real.

Still, she wasn’t planning to pick it up all the same.

Jumping to her feet, Molly rushed after Harry to catch up, keeping an eye out for anything strange. Well, stranger than usual, at least. “Lasciel? The Webweaver? What does she have to do with Rosemary’s Baby back there?”

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  ”So he didn’t tell you. Hot damn… I don’t think he told anybody, actually. Not quite sure — there’s bits of his mind I can’t get to, mostly the conscious side, and he’s been trying to keep me out of his memories sometimes. Dunno why.” He shrugged a little and the coin that had been on the floor flared briefly and grew black, as if the magic had been dismissed, and he let out a hum as he went past random archways with different markings over the doorways. “He caught the coin to save your little brother… little Harry at that, actually. And then he fought it, as long as he could. She touched his mind, he buried the coin under like… three feet of concrete, in his old lab. She left an imprint.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  ”Wait— _what_?! He touched one of the Coins and he didn’t…” He didn’t take it up. Her footsteps stuttered for a second, but she chased after him to catch up once more, still in a state of shock, “How long ago? Is the Coin still down there, in the lab?”

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  ”Nope. This was… oh, after the first time we met Nicodemus. And after we dealt with Ortega. In your back yard, actually.” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “So she was in his head for… let me think… four years? Maybe longer. But uh… it wasn’t reall Lasciel. It was an extension of her, more or less, but it wasn’t her. And Harry…. sunuvabitch actually changed her. Turned her into her own person, if you can believe it. She sacrificed herself to save his life in the battle with Malvora, at the Raith estate. Harry dug out the coin after she died, if that’s the right word, gave the coin to Father Forthill.” He rolled his eyes a little. “Yeah, that worked.”

 **[golly-missmolly]:**  All that time, he’d had a Coin buried under the lab. It had been there all along, and ever since he’d touched the Coin, he’d had… well, at least some part of Lasciel whispering in his brain. And he hadn’t taken up the Coin. He’d _changed_ one of the Fallen; or at least some extension of her anyway. Molly had heard a lot of impossible things, but _this_ she had a hard time believing.

"Why the sarcasm? What happened to the Coin?"

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  He let out a sigh. “You don’t… know anything about what he just went through, huh? Nobody told you yet?” His lips formed a thin line. “The Coin was taken up by someone else — the real Lasciel was still attached. The woman who took up the Coin was killed, fighting Harry, in Hades vault.” He paused outside a door with a curtain covering it. “So this… parasite, as Mab calls it, is actually a baby. Well, sort of. See, the girl in Harry’s brain — Lash, he called her — she sort of… took on a little bit of his soul, became real, in a manner of speaking. And this child… belongs to them both.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  ”No, no one told me what he’s been through— you guys literally showed up at my doorstep _screaming_. Mab was in here about two seconds before and said you were coming, there was a parasite in his head and —” Molly cut her rant short when they reached the door with the curtain, frowning deeply, and looked at him for a long minute before looking towards the curtain.

"He’s… _pregnant_?" Oh Lord… leave it to Harry Dresden to get knocked up by the psychic imprint of one of the Fallen.

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  ”Got it in one. Mab told him it was a parasite too, though I think that was in part to keep him from digging into things too much. Demonreach was able to keep it in check most of the time, but he’s essentially been going through a sort of… birthing process in his mind, and he’s had no idea. Today is delivery day, baby.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  ”Uh. I hate to break it to you, Miss Scarlet, but I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ no babies.”

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  Rolling his eyes with a snort, id!Harry reached out to poke between her eyes, shaking his head. “Numbnuts. You’re not performing the delivery — but I still need your help. I can’t do this myself, or else Harry’s head is going to pop open like an egg in Ghostbusters. I need you to help me suppress a lot of the pain — and I need you to help me find a place to put this damn thing. There’s not enough room for him and her both.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  She made a face and batted at his hand, “Don’t call me numbnuts, lardbreath.” Molly muttered under her breath, but it was all coming together now, and she gave a solemn nod. This wasn’t going to be pretty… not for any of them.

"Mab brought me something when she came here. She said Harry’d left it on Demonreach. It’s like…" Frowning, she pulled her hands up to draw the outline of the object in the air, the image sticking as if she’d been drawing on a chalkboard, "It’s a Bob skull, except wooden. Mab said he needed it for some reason. Do you think that’ll work?"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  His brow arched a little and he ran his fingers over his chin before nodding slowly, eyes rolling down for a moment. “Yeah… I think that’d work. She’s going to be… um… a spirit of sorts, I guess. An intelligence, a lot like Bob. So that’s actually probably perfect, to be quite honest. One of those things he kept from me, by the way, I don’t know why.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   ”Why would he…” that seemed like an odd thing to keep from your subconscious— and why would he be making it in the first place if he hadn’t known about the para— baby? Molly was pretty sure that if she ever ran into _her_ subconscious, it was likely to turn into a knock down drag out fight, but _still,_ Harry could at least keep his id in the loop as far as shit that might save his life was concerned.

Molly waved a hand dismissively, dispelling the image as if drawing her hand through smoke.

"How much time have we got?"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  ”I don’t think he trusts me, for whatever reason… but you know him. He’s a paranoid freaking idiot sometimes.” He sighed and raised a hand, gripping the edge of the curtain. “We’ve got… not long now, actually. Brace yourself.” id!Harry pulled open the curtain to reveal a fully stocked hospital room, eith all the equipment and everything, though none of it appeared to be working at all. The bed was facing away from the door, and Molly would be able to see a familiar shock of messy hair just above the pillow, and perhaps a familiar pair of knobbly knees on either side. Also, Harry was groaning.

id!Harry stepped with her further into the hospital room, crossing around the bed, and he let out a sigh as he looked to… well, pregnant Harry. Who looked very tired, very scared, and very much in pain. Grey eyes were wild, glaring at id!Harry, and he grit his teeth, his fingers digging into the blanket covering his extended mid-section. “You! You did this to me!”

id!Harry just facepalmed before sighing. “Molly.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  Okay. Yep. Psychomancy was weird. It was all symbolism, and metaphor, which meant it wasn’t real— but it also meant that some really _wacky_ things happened because that was the best way for the brain to compute what the hell was going on.

Like the fact that she was currently looking at her former mentor, knees to the sky, and a belly that looked like he’d just eaten an entire Chinese buffet in one sitting.

"Where’s it going to come out of…" she muttered, then realized she didn’t _actually_ want an answer to that question, and quickly went to preggo!Harry’s side and sat on a spinning stool next to him, putting her hand on his.

"Hey, hey Boss. Calm down. We got this. I’m going to help you through this, okay?"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  preggo!Harry’s eyes twisted suddenly to glare in Molly’s direction… but then softened when he realized who it was. He was still growling, though, sweat dripping down his face, and his hand turned over in her own, gripping it firmly as he pressed his head back hard against the pillow behind him. “Ugh… Molls… why the hell is this happening to me?”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   ”Is this an appropriate time to make a ‘she fucked your brains out’ joke?” She said, only a little playfully, and grabbed a rag to carefully wipe the sweat off his forehead. “Look, if my mom can do this seven times, you can definitely make it through once. And I’m right here to help you, Boss. Think of me as your personal anathesiologist. Except better because you don’t have to pay me. You think you’re about ready to do this?”

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  His eyes closed slowly and he let out a little whimper of a sigh, though some of the pain seemed to ease out of his features when she wiped the sweat from his face. Swallowing heavily, tears stinging his eyes, he gripped her hand more fully. “I’m so sorry, Molly… I’m sorry I didn’t tell anybody. I just… I _couldn’t_ tell anybody. I was so scared that I was going to Fall…”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  ”It’s okay.” She soothed, holding his hand between both of hers and lightly kissing his knuckles. “We can talk about this later, okay? But you know I’m here for you, Harry, no matter what.” She’d said it before and she would say it again, because it would never not be true— there was nothing she wouldn’t do for him.

"I’m going to take some of your pain away, okay? Don’t yell at id!Harry though— he’s a dick but he’s trying to help. Just… uh… breathe, like he he he hoooooo or something, I don’t know. " Maybe she should have paid more attention when her mother had been pregnant all those subsequent times.

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:** "Okay… okay." preggo!Harry just let out a sigh and closed his eyes again, leaning his head back against the pillow and trying to relax. He started to breathe, as suggested, and id!Harry pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing and starting to pull on the rest of his medical gear. Another person wandered in — which was, in fact, Harry wearing a long brown wig, a nurse’s cap and dress, also wearing makeup. nurse!Harry blinked when s/he saw Molly and sighed. "Oh crap."

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  She couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing, and turned to hide her face against preggo!Harry’s hand. “You look like the fucking _Joker._ ” Molly tried to stop cackling, but she was having a damned hard time sucking it up. Finally, after heaving in a few deep breaths, she nodded and wiped her eyes with the inside of her elbow, unwilling to let go for preggo!Harry’s hand, and stifling the last few giggles.

"I’m sorry, oh God— okay I’m good now, I promise. I’m ready. That was good though…"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  ”God I’m never going to live this down.” id!Harry let out a long-suffering sigh and glared at nurse!Harry, who grimaced and handed off what appeared to be a baby crib. id!Harry set it to the side, near the bed that preggo!Harry was laying on, then turned to glance at Molly. “Okay, I think it’s time. Just… keep him breathing, try to keep his pain suppressed. I’m forseeing a simple enough birth, but I want to avoid any complications if we can.”

nurse!Harry let out a sigh and reached up to scratch under the wig, frowning slightly and shifting from foot to foot. preggo!Harry opened his eyes slowly, rolling them around to nurse!Harry… and he let out a groan. “What the fuck? What the _fuck_ is going on in my brain?!?”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  ”Don’t look, Boss.” She said, trying to choke down another grin, “Just uh… push? I guess?” Really, she didn’t want to think that hard about it or the symbolism was going to collapse and whatever the reality of having a brain baby was would double back in on them _hard_.

Molly took deep breaths— not because she was actually breathing, but because it was a habit by now, to center herself before taking on someone else’s emotional energy— and dropped her shields. The pain was _intense_ , and wasn’t just localized to her brain. Maybe it would have been if she hadn’t come so deep into his mind, but here, things were different— she was feeling the pain of being in labor, which ehr own brain translated to pain in her lower belly, her back, and a general weariness that settled over her like a fog.

"F-fuck…" She mutterd, squeezing preggo!Harry’s hand in encouragement. "This fucking settles it.. I’m n-never having kids."

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  preggo!Harry gave her hand a firm squeeze, grey eyes rolling to look up at her as he grit his teeth. Toes curling, a soft sigh escaping his lips, he mumbled softly under his breath, “‘Just… relax, Molls. Breathe, slowly. I know what you’re doing now — I can actually _feel_ it… but you can deal with the pain, too. Focus on it, draw a little circle around it… move it around. You can decide what hurts and how much.” He let out a gasp as id!Harry’s hands slipped beneath the sheet, his eyes twisting shut again and his fingers calmping down hard on Molly’s. “Frick… I think… it’s coming…”

id!Harry just nodded, pressing his tongue against the corner of his mouth, his jaw tightening a little as his fingers worked, unseen, beneath the sheet… and he made a victorious noise as a baby girl’s cries started to fill the air. preggo!Harry was still groaning and gasping, id!Harry was chanting to him to push, push, push, and nurse!Harry had moved around behind to pat at his forehead with the rag Molly had been using.

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  She nodded and held onto his hands, dropping her head back and leaning backwards on the stood she was sitting in, trying to stretch her back. She knew her body wasn’t in any physical pain, she /knew/ she could control exactly how much of his pain she absorbed like a hot water faucet. He just needed someone to share the mental strain with.

Just as he directed, she drew a mental circle around the pain, each circle standing out like neon signs in this completely non-physical environment. Carefully, and slowly, she used her Will to draw all the circles together into one once she compressed into a tight ball before reabosrbing The pain was intense, but it was only in one spot now, and, with a little help from the Mantle, kept mostly at bay.

Molly lifted her head at the sound of the baby’s cries, and looked towards id!Harry. Crying was a good sign, wasn’t it? “Harry.. it’s—- is it okay?”

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:** The darkly scrubbed wizard id nodded, his brows raising slightly. “Means it’s alive, anyway. Not quite out yet.” His hands continued working beneath the sheet and he grumbled to himself, his brow creasing heavily, before looking up at preggo!Harry and snorting. “C’mon, you bitch, push this sucker out. Let’s finish this up, pronto.”

preggo!Harry scowled a little before closing his eyes, grimacing and starting to push harder than before. His fingers gripped Molly’s all the more tightly, almost like a vise, and he let out a groaaaaaaaaaan before his head tipped back against the pillow.

id!Harry stood up tall, cradling the child in his arms and using a clean towel to wipe her off. “Ooookay… lookie here, it’s a girlie girl.”

 **[golly-missmolly]:**  ”I realize the testosterone is strong with this one,” She grumbled, just as pissed off about the bitch comment as preggo!Harry, even if she wasn’t the one it was directed at, “But seriously. One of you is in drag, the other one is pregnant. I really don’t think you should be calling people ‘bitches’.”

But it was a relief to hear that the baby— the _girl_ was okay, and Molly smiled. The next step would be difficult as well, but between the two (uh… four) of them, they could pull it off. Probably.

"I’ll take her out with me and put her in the skull."

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]**  id!Harry just rolled his eyes with a snort and moved to settle the child into the crib the nurse had brought in, a sigh escaping his lips. “Everyone’s a critic. Excuse me if I feel like the only one in the room with anything resembling a penis.” He tucked the baby in with what appeared to be practiced care, however, and let out a little hum. “She’s gonna grow fast, by the way… so probably a good idea not to dawdle. Now that she has a little more room to grow.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   ”Yeah..” She agreed, frowning. Maybe this second part was going to be more dangerous than she thought. Still, she didn’t want to leave if they still needed her here…

"Are… you all going to be okay?"

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]** not-so-preggo!Harry appeared to have fallen asleep, nurse!Harry leaning over him and wiping at his forehead with the rag from before. id!Harry looked to them both and let out a sigh, turning his gaze to her before pulling the crib around. It appeared to be not just a crib, but a stroller, and he handed it off to her. “This is going to take a few days for Harry to deal with emotionally, but uh… yeah. You might help him out a little yourself.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   _Christ_ , the kid really was growing fast— which meant the clock was ticking to get her out before she started to burst dad’s brain… again.

"Any suggestions on how I can help?" She asked, putting one hand on the stroller and rolling it forward and back in a rocking motion that was all too familiar with six baby siblings.

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]**  id!Harry sighed and looked over at the other two before motioning her to follow, moving out of the curtained room and closing it behind them before starting down the shadowed corridor. “Harry’s going to need some help putting his mind back together. Fragmented memories, that kind of thing. He’s gonna be a mess. Probably pretty physically exhausted, too. You know, his typical thing.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   She followed behind him, watching the baby carefully to be sure not to disrupt her stroller. Had she already started to smile? She couldn’t be that big yet, could she?

Molly nodded, giving id!Harry an unamused, but knowing smile. “Yeah. His typical thing. I’ll help however he’ll let me. _You_ , at least, know that.” Even if Harry consciously hadn’t figured it out yet. After all, somehow he’d known she’d agree to help him plan his own murder— and Molly highly doubted that the assurance of that particular fact had been a conscious one at all.

  
 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:** "He means well. God help him, he means well." Letting out another sigh and rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly he was no longer in the black scrubs but his typical outfit, and he settled a black gallon hat atop his head. "Things will get better. He just needs your help. You’re the only one that can help him, you know."

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   She wasn’t sure she believed that, but she wasn’t about to argue either. “I’ll do whatever I can.” Molly promised again, and glanced down at the baby, who was already trying to cram her fish in her mouth and finding her toes. There was no way that was newborn behavior.

"I should get out of here before she starts walking or we might never catch her. Hey… I know you’re in the same sinking ship and all but… thanks for looking out for him."

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]**  The wizard let out a sigh and rubbed a hand down his face, then just nodded and waved her off. “Yeah, yeah. Go on, get out of her. And hey — get him to fuck somebody, will ya? We’re all sexually repressed in here and I can only sneak into his private stash so many times. Not like I can actually get off. Get him off yourself if you need to.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  Molly snorted and rolled her eyes but there was an affectionate smile on her face, “Yeah I’ll pass on the message. ” With that as a good bye, Molly made her way back to the exit— which was thankfully labeled ‘exit for Molly’ in bright neon letters. By the time she’d gotten to the door, the big heavy lever-push kind they used in dark rooms and warehouses, the girl was already whining and crying to be let out of her stroller, and Molly paused just for a second to scoop her up into her arms, cradled her close, and pushed forward.

Molly came back itno her body with a start, but her hands weren’t on Harry’s temples anymore. Instead, she cradled a blue light, not unlike the sparks that were Bob’s orange light when he wasn’t confined to his skull, close to her chest. Harry’s hands on her arms _hurt_ , and she thought for sure they would leave bruises in the morning, but that didn’t concern her at the moment. Molly stood, carefully, keeping the little spirit of intellect cupped between her hands next to her heart and pulled over the coffee table with her foot. On it, just as she’d said, was a wooden replica of Bob’s skull, carved with intricate runes and spells. As gently as if releasing a captive butterfly, Molly pushed the spirit towards the skull, and within a few moments the light faded from her hands, and lit up the eye sockets of the old wooden skull.

And then she sat down, _heavily_ , panting for breath, turning towards where Harry lay behind her on the couch. Hopefully he hadn’t suffered any ill effects…

"Boss?… You with me, Harry?"

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]**  His hands released their grip with just the slightest change of pressure when she moved, flopping down to the side, his arms hanging loosely over his chest, over the edge of the sofa. The pain was gone, for the most part, save for some phantom aftershocks that rocked through his brain… and some of the damage done from the birth itself. His face puled intoa little grimace and the wizard groaned, pulling his hands up very, very slowly and cradling his head with his hands.

"… I feel like I just got skull fucked by the Incredible Hulk."

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**   Molly laughed and reached behind her to pat his knee, since it was the closest part of him she could reach. “Close, but I think _mind-fucked_ by an imprint of The Seducer is more accurate.” She said, but it was with a teasing tone. “Gimme a minute and I’ll go get you some aspirin.” She’d just expended an incredible amount of energy, and she felt like she could nap for a week and not even roll over.

"She’s okay, by the way." Molly added after a moment, gesturing to the skull where the blue lights flickered sleepily.

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  He blinked a few times before letting outa sigh, turning his head and peering where Molly had indicated. His vision wasn’t stark white anymore, but it was definitely blurry, and he could barely make out the outline of the wooden skull he’d made for Bob with two distinctly blue flames in the eyes. His eyes widened before he raised a hand to cover his mouth. “Hell’s bells…”

 **[golly-missmolly]:**  She smiled and dropped her head back against the couch and gave his knee another reassuring pat. “Congratulations. You’re a Dad… again. Or maybe a mom. Seriously there’s some messed up shit going on in your head, Boss. Those guys are nutty.”

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**   Shaking his head, rubbing both hands over his face, he groaned, his brow creasing and his eyes twisting shut. “Ugh. I don’t even want to know. I just… ugh, I just… it doesn’t hurt anymore…”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  “Good.”

Molly stayed leaning back against the couch for a few minutes longer before it was either get up or fall asleep time, and finally pushed to her feet, and left for the kitchen. When she returned, she handed him a couple of aspirin and a Coke, and sat down once more, this time on the edge of the couch.

"Rest, nap- whatever. You can should stay here for the next couple days at least, just to make sure nothing’s going to go wrong in the end— but once you get some rest, if you want, I’ll take you up to see Karrin… and you can tell me what the hell has been going on around here."

 **[acrusadeagainststupid]:**  He dropped the aspirin between his lips and popped open the Coke, giving it a moment to fizz before tipping it back and draining most of the can in one go. He swallowed heavily, licking his lips, and couldn’t hold back the burp. “Ugh… excuse me.”

Closing his eyes, rubbing his fingers over his brow, he let out another sof sigh and leaned his head back agianst hte arm of the sofa, laying the can on his chest. “Yeah… okay. I’m not… really in the mood to argue, and I’m not in a rush to get back to Demonreach anyway.”

  
 **[golly-missmolly]:**  “Good, then I don’t have to give you a command.” she joked, turning over her shoulder to touch his head, mostly to make sure it was still there, and intact. “Get some sleep, Boss. I’ll hold down the fort.”


End file.
